“My perfect older sister.”
“Ah,” Nora said.
“I’ve lived in her shadow my entire life.”
The train entered another tunnel, and the lights flickered. The wheels on the train clattered. Nora stayed quiet.
“Now it’s my turn to ask you?.?.?. back in Riomaggiore, one moment, Lorenzo was a dreamy Mr. Knightley-like gentleman, and the next, he went into self-preservation mode. Help me understand.” Sabrina rubbed the tender space between her shoulder blades and her head. “Who was that woman in the piazza?”
Nora slowly closed her laptop and folded her hands on top of the device, giving Sabrina her full and undivided attention. “My brother has had exactly two serious girlfriends. One when we were in secondary school and the second when he was attending university. Both times, the relationship ended badly.”
Nora sighed. “Growing up, it was difficult for my siblings and I to make friends. Part of being a royal means that we had to be mindful of who we could trust. There were so many kids who would use us for personal gain. Lorenzo had a more difficult time than either myself or Lucia.”
Sabrina frowned. “And teenagers being teenagers?.?.?. it was all about seeing who could be the first one to, uh?.?.?. capture the prince’s heart, wasn’t it?”
My teenage years were some of the most difficult of my life. I hated every second of being in a body that was constantly changing and couldn’t be controlled. I was the brunt of other people’s jokes. As if the acne and braces weren’t enough, my interests didn’t align at all with anyone else’s.
Nora’s mouth twisted into a sad smile. “Precisely.”
“I can picture just how his first relationship must have gone. What happened when Lorenzo was in college?”
“Lorenzo thought he had taken all the possible steps to hide his true identity. He was dead set against becoming involved in any sort of romantic relationship ever again. However, the truth of the matter was that everyone at his uni was aware there was a prince in their orbit.” Nora stared at her fingernails. “Noemi came along during the second semester of his second year. As lab partners in organic chemistry, she and Lorenzo worked together closely. He was unable to resist her charms, and by the middle of the term, they were officially an item.”
Sabrina scratched her head. “How long were they together?”
Nora tapped her pointer finger on her chin. “I want to say two years and six months.”
Sabrina leaned forward. “And?”
“One afternoon, when Lorenzo was on his way back to their shared flat, he received a phone call from his credit card company letting him know his card was nearing its limit.” Nora flinched. “As it turns out, Noemi had been making extravagant purchases on not just one of his cards, but nearly all of them. She’d managed to spend two million euros without his knowledge.”
Sabrina’s mouth opened and closed. “Two million euros?” she choked out. “What did she buy? A home? A car?”
Nora rolled her eyes. “Primarily designer shoes. She wasn’t the cleverest person. Just ambitious.”
That’s a lot of shoes.
“When he confronted Noemi, she confessed she’d known he was a prince all along. That was in fact the only reason she’d enrolled at the University of Padua. She pursued Lorenzo for the perks that came with dating, and eventually marrying, a royal—money and a title. Lorenzo was beyond upset, but my brother, being the kind of person he is, ensured Noemi was kept out of prison. Since then, he hasn’t demonstrated the slightest inclination toward anyone. Then he met you.”
He’s scared of having his heart broken again in the same way. He must find it difficult to trust anyone. Has Lorenzo ever known love?
Although she was still angry with the man, her heart ached for him.
No one deserves to be taken advantage of. I can at least understand why reacted as he did, but that doesn’t entirely excuse him for today.
“He must have felt so broken,” Sabrina said in a low tone.
I have some personal experience with it. When you’re low, it’s as if you’re stuck, trapped inside the bottom of a giant whirlpool with little chance of an escape. The world only exists in black and white.
Nora cleared her throat. “He was. But it’s been three years. At some point, he has to take a risk and learn that not every person he meets wants him only because he’s a royal or for our money.”
The timing on my part couldn’t have been worse. How much did the confrontation with Noemi reopen Lorenzo’s raw wounds and insecurities?
“What did Noemi want from him today?”
Nora’s face scrunched. “Noemi is angry and bitter. She blames him for all her problems. Today, when she chanced upon him, she tried to cause a scene by screaming that he owed her money. Luckily, it backfired.”
Sabrina frowned. “What did you say to her?”
